What else happened? Snow White and the Huntsman. For the first time I got to experience laughing at something because it was so very, very bad. I thought people who claimed to do that were exaggerating for effect - NO LONGER. I managed to contain myself with silent giggles until the credits when I nearly fell off my chair.

I mean, would I have liked some nod to overturning basic patriarchical assumptions (female sexuality is bad; beauty is the most important female attribute and its loss is irreplaceable; all females require male approbation before any of their actions gain worth)? Of course. Did I get them? No; not hugely unexpected. Turning Snow White INTO JESUS was pretty unexpected though. And the script forgot basic plot points five lines of dialogue after they'd been introduced. Nothing made sense. It was clearly written by a troll on crack.

ANYWAY. LIAM/LOUIS. GIVE ME SOME OF THAT NOW INTERNET. MY PALATE MUST BE CLEANSED.

HAHAHAHA YOU KNOW YOU ARE IN FANDOM WHEN YOU RANDOMLY IMPRINT ON SHIPS FOR NO PARTICULAR REASON.

I liked Liam/Louis before I even was entirely sure who they were in the band - I knew Harry long before because of that whole deeply awesome thing with Caroline Flack. I LIKE Harry/Louis, but they miss out on element I enjoy best in Louis/Liam, which is a quiet, sensible Liam pining after brash, loud Louis who acts like that with everyone, Liam, why do YOU think you're special he bites Harry too! etc. Although, having watched some vids (HAHAHAH OH GOD.) Liam has the best bon mots of all of them, which are completely underappreciated by Niall and Zayn because, god help us, they're a bit thick, and Louis is THAT KID in school who'd be amazing if he could shut up for five seconds, and Harry just seems either high or very sleepy the whole time. LIAM IS MY FAVOURITE, in conclusion, so I want him to have all the things. I would totally go for Liam/Harry if that was more of a thing.

omg you have succumbed to 1D THAT IS THE BEST NEWS EVER. They are just too shiny to resist.

harriet_vane has some Lilo stuff, you should go read that because it is adorable and will make you flail at your computer screen with pure joy. Here's her latest if you haven't gotten to it yet: http://archiveofourown.org/works/408986

My favorite One Direction fic (which just so happens to be Liam/Louis, yay!) is Restart the Heart You Gave Me. It's a really gut wrenching future fic, but it's beautiful and amazing. Here's the ao3 link: http://archiveofourown.org/works/413440

I have read everything harriet_vane's done, she is pretty much responsible for all of this. I've also read all of sparkbyspark's twice. OH BABY FANDOMS. I don't think I can remember any other fandom being this small? Like I was never in on the ground level. Which is fun but god I just want MOAR FIC DAMMIT. That AO3 one is new on me, though, thanks! I have been reduced to trawling tumblr for recs, which - OH MY EYES, MARY-SUE SELF INSERTION FIC.

In the opposite side of the room, there she was with a black shirt and blue shirt. Was that a little bow in her tiny neck? Her long curls were in a low ponytail and her dark blue eyes were shinning. I fell harder for her, even if it was impossible. Her petite frame made me want to protect her, to cuddle her and kiss the top of her head.

tiny fandom, omg I KNOW. I was into tsn for a while, and that was the smallest fandom I had been in prior, but even though there are millions of ID fans and people have been writing about them since they were on X-Factor (which boggles me, like, how friggin' tiny must fandom have been then) it still seems like I'm scrambling for stuff to read (or at least for longer fics. I can't wait for the big bang posting to begin!!!)

I never spent any time on tumblr before this fandom happened to me, and now I feel like I LIVE THERE or something! And the amount of horrible fic that may or may not have been written by teenage girls but certainly sounds like it was makes me want to bang my head on my desk. HAVE I TRULY SUNK SO LOW?! the answer is yes.

I watched their 'one year as one direction' video and that was back in 2011. They've kind of made it since then, huh? A couple of my friends went around saying #18now! for a while (although one of them was referring to Justin Bieber ... no comment). THERE IS A BIG BANG?! WHERE?!

Have you any tumblr recs? Because I just typed one direction fanfic into google and IT BURNED.

When it became clear to my roommate and best friend that I was into them (because I had One Thing on repeat and I kept spouting random stalker!facts about them) and they were really surprised and amused I basically just shouted "IT'S OK BECAUSE THEY ARE LEGAL. ALL OF THEM ARE LEGAL" until I convinced them they were worth fangirling over. Hahaha now all my closest friends are fans.

There's a bigbang community (http://1directionbang.livejournal.com/) but they've switched mods recently, posting was supposed to happen tomorrow but I think it's been pushed back to the 18th! If you haven't joined one_d_fanwork I would do that, there will def be updates about the big bang there.

Haahahaha noooo actually tbh all of the tumblr stuff (bad and good alike) I read is Harry/Louis. There's just waaaaaaay more of it.

The best RL anecdote I have is about the last hospital I worked in, where we had a bunch of the cutest male interns who were for once numerically superior to the girl interns. And they ALL had The Hair, and they were also very sweet lads who'd bring each other food on call and were all BFFs. So ... we bought a One Direction poster and hung it in the res and wrote the interns' names underneath. What Makes You Beautiful was also our official song on nights out - we must have looked nicely sane, all these mid-twenties women screaming and dancing terribly to tween pop. :P

I CAN'T BELIEVE THERE'S A BIG BANG! Happiness. Also weird nostalgia - I wrote for the very very first big bang there ever was, in HP fandom, when the name reflected some sooper speshsul metaphor about Harry and Draco's Deep Lurve Connection. I'm not exactly the longest-standing fandom member but MAN, that was ages ago.

I'm actually going to end up reading self-insert Mary Sues all the way through, for the lols. I AM A TROLL.

Lol that is such an amusing anecdote! The Hair is truly miraculous. I wish more guys had it if only so I could stare in awe. And haha, that sounds so fun! I would totally pregame to 1D! Their music is just so happy. That is totally on my agenda for next semester.

Oh man, I remember when I first discovered the Big Bang, and I was blown away by how beautiful the artwork was and how sad and complex all the stories were! Golden days of HP. It feels like so long ago! Hmm maybe I will go reread a few this summer and have all the feelings.

Haha I just don't have the patience for Mary-Sues. I feel bad enough about all the kinkmeme fills I'm addicted to and wips on tumblr I'm hoping will be updated soon. The 1direction big bang cannot come soon enough!

Also the more 1D picspams I see and more times I watch the music videos... the more I want to go shopping. And I keep finding myself with the urge to buy bright colored pants and suspenders, and I am lazy and old fashioned and always wear dresses ahaha. Damn 1D's stylist! They are too good.

Welcome. It is the worst fandom of all time but some of the fic is pretty great and the boys themselves are basically always perfect.

(I have a recs list which I assume you've already seen?)

LIAM IS BY FAR THE BEST ONE. I am in the midst of a terrible terrible patch of Harry feelings, of all people, but Liam Payne is basically the greatest thing that has ever happened. I have another 14k or so of Liam/Louis and I am badgering as many people as I can possibly find into writing them as well, if that helps?

The good fanfic has that core of genuine sweetness and charm that I remember from some of the bandom stuff. The boys themselves seem to perpetuate that - I am seriously baffled by how much they like their fans and how little they seem interested in that male 'hur hur sex' bullshit. I can see them just holding hands and thinking that was great even though they are old enough for ... everything, I guess, and international hearthrobs.

I have admired Harry vaguely since the Caroline Flack thing, and also because by repute he spoke out against homophobia and racism and things. Oddly though, Liam comes off as the smartest one any time they're let talk. Harry just smiles and looks charmingly puzzled, IT'S HILARIOUS.

YAY FOR YOU!FIC!!! I would totally write some myself but I'm bang out of ideas. Plus I'd end up doing 'Liam manipulates Louis into realising they are MEANT TO BE because he has all the smarts' and I don't actually want to read that interpretation, lol.

There's a part of their concert where Liam always says, "It's amazing what you guys can get trending on twitter," and I am always amazed he doesn't then add, "you disgusting fithly horrible assholes." But of course he doesn't, because he's adorable, and they all seem like they love their fans even when they're being badgered and harassed. They had a bit of a flip out on twitter this week, which I support 100% given what they put up with. All five of them are surprisingly sweet. I amazed by Simon Cowell's ability to find the perfect boyband boys.

Heeeeee. I have Harry pegged as the smartest one, although he doesn't necessarily come across that way in interviews. Liam's grades were terrible, but I think maybe his people sense/ability to explain thing is the best of any of them? Harry's just sly and sneaky and always watching for opportunities to cause trouble, which I can enjoy.

Oh my god, I have roughly ONE MILLION ideas. I am probably not allowed to write Liam pining after Louis anymore, since I have done that like three times now, which is cool because there is still "Liam is really annoyed and dislikes Louis for being a rule breaker and an annoyance and doesn't realize that is how Louis is trying to woo him." Also they should all be girls, I think that would be really interesting. Also they should all go to boarding school, they made a video about that as inspiration. Also they should be sporty bros and Liam and Louis can be really competitive (they seem to actually be the most competitive sporty bros EVER) which everyone but Liam understands means they want to make out. Also "don't realize they're already dating" fic.

Ugh, I don't think I like the sound of the fan-fandom - I mean, the people who want to interact with them on some real level. I have a nice fourth wall of crazy built up after years in fandom/bandom. I like that good step-back of a remove. It seems so unfair that they sit around good-naturedly answering dumb questions about pizza toppings and get this in return. At least with Panic, they were kind of assholes - not that anything justifies putting this where they can see it. Also, haven't any of these people heard of the basic courtesy of not assigning other people's sexuality?! You accept what they tell you is true, end of! Jesus H Christ. (And this is what I get from second-hand info; I'd hate to be on the front lines.)

My attitude to school achievements has changed a lot since I was in school - mainly because my class in college was culled from the smartest people of that age and 99% of them wouldn't read a book if you paid them. I get this impression that Liam is smart and well-informed about, like, shit. I'm surrounded by people who use Bon Iver as the entry-level for good music or whatever, and Liam's sitting there talking about Rhianna et al. In many ways they're just very eighteen, but I think taken out of this setting none of them would be cool in four or five years' time. Am I making sense? GOD PROBABLY NOT. I haven't seen anything yet where Harry is actively making trouble (or actively doing anything) but I totally believe you. He's got that fallen angel face. :P

NO ALWAYS WRITE LIAM PINING IF THAT IS WHAT YOUR BRAIN WISHES PLEASE AND THANKS. And, MY HEART, Louis trying to get Liam's attention by being bold?! ♥! And even more love for Liam not understanding that Louis' soccer tackles are an excuse to touch him. OH MAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN. I have it bad.

The fandom is particularly bad about letting Louis define his own sexuality. I got yelled at for pointing out that he has a girlfriend. It just makes me insanely defensive of Louis, who doesn't deserve this shit, and of Harry, who is SUCH a baby, really. He's only barely 18, and he seems to be able to roll with things well beyond his years, but he's really just a kid and he's got this whole crazy world crashing down on his head. I don't know. Weirdly, it makes me feel fine about writing fic because at least I'm being vaguely respectful and not shoving it in anyone's face or insisting it's true.

Grades aren't a great indicator of smarts, it's true. I get the sense that Louis is very, very smart at presenting himself in certain ways with certain people, while Liam is very, very good at making people happy. I think Harry is pretty brilliant, but he's also sly and silly and just a baby, so... I don't know. I have a lot of feelings about all of them, which is why I just keep writing fic, I guess. None of them are cool. NONE OF THEM. They only seem vaguely cool because they're famous. Any pre-fame pictures/interviews show that even Harry was more of a troll than a popular kid. Liam in particular seems to have been pretty fucking uncool, and Zayn too, probably, where Louis and Harry at least seemed to have created their own gang of weird friends. (Niall gives no fucks and I love him for it. Still not cool, though.)

BUT I HAVE TO WRITE OTHER THINGS. Liam doesn't pine in the fic I'm writing right now at all. Mostly because Louis is immediately all over him in a rather unmissable way. i want other people to write it for me, now, so I can move on to other ways for Louis to annoy Liam into dating him.

I have had that post open for two days and I intend to keep it open until I die. They are so physical with each other, and it's so different from how Louis is physical with Harry. It's right on the border between brotherly teasing and actual assault, and it SEEMS to be Louis's way of including Liam in his stupid games and making sure Liam is playing with them instead of off being serious and sensible. God, I'm so charmed. Ugh. UGH.

I believe in the transformative power of the written word, whether it's actually transformative fiction or not. If enough people make an effort in fic to show that it's fake, it's appropriative but in a weird way a true fannish offering, and DOESN'T try to shift it wholesale on to the real people - that's a good thing.

I know what you mean about Harry being a troll! There's that gif where he's 'my worst habit is getting NAKED' and you just have to wonder, did he determinedly think that for years, would he eventually have been crushed by self-doubt were it not for the fame, how much of your personality is what you convince yourself it is and show to others? It's a freaking fascinating sociological thing. I still don't get why twitter don't ask them more interesting questions just to see.

hahaha Liam. My thing with Ireland is that it's one of the few countries in the world you can make sweeping assumptions about and have them apply, because ONLY FOUR MILLION INHABITANTS. There are simply not enough people for much variation to exist, so while the English have that stiff upper lip straitlaced stereotype, there's plenty of people to combat it and for Harry+Louis type interaction to be a normal subset. That is so not the case in Ireland. We are completely non-touchy-feely and I can so pick up on Niall's discomfort with it - with it happening to him as opposed to happening at all, though, at least.

I just love the idea of Liam throwing up his hands one day and huffing FINE, I'LL DATE YOU and Louis being WHAT DID YOU THINK THIS WAS BEFORE DUDE. :D

Oooh, tell me there's a page of Harry/Louis gifs? FOR IMPORTANT RESEARCH COMPARISON PURPOSES. It also looks like he's testing Liam - like, I think if Liam was genuinely uncomfortable Louis would have figured it out and stopped, but BECAUSE he didn't start out as boytouchy Louis keeps having to check in. And is delighted to find Liam's still okay with it. &boys;

Harry does other stuff like grafitting their signs to read BoneR direction, and asking girls at meet and greets if Zayn can have their phone numbers. He just really likes being a little shit, and he's so cute that he gets away with it. He's awful/amazing. He was serious about the naked thing, btw. There are endless, endless pics of him wandering around in just underwear. (And allegedly naked, but I don't look at those.)

Hee, Niall is for sure the least touchy of them. I think it's partially the Irish thing and partially that he's the only one with a brother -- the other four only have sisters, and some of them have LOTS of sisters. I think they were missing other boys to bounce off and now they have them, and the result is the craziness you see. Louis had four little sisters and now he's got Liam to bother. Liam had two big sisters who bothered him and now he's got Louis. And so on.

Hee, that is more or less what I'm writing with Louis and Liam. Harry's like, "Where's your boyfriend?" and Liam's all, "Wait, my WHAT?" He's so cute.

yes! Agreed, Louis is for sure checking to see where Liam's boundaries are and then trying to sneak around them. Liam said flat-out in the Dare to Dream book that Louis was intimidating to him at first, that none of Liam's friends from home were like that or played around like that, and I think Louis has very deliberately stepped up his game at dragging Liam in with him. He brags about "corrupting" Liam to be more "naughty" quite a bit.

I have one brother and we did plenty of roughhousing, especially considering that I am not a particularly physical person. He just expressed his anger with toy swords a lot. I have ... a lot of thoughts about why they are touchy the way they are touchy. Bear with me.

Remember your skating fic with the subplot about Adam wooing Mirai? And you mentioned Mirai finding excuses to hit Adam as a reason to touch him. That's a very teenagery Thing, and my theory on the reason is that, at that age, sex is not a given. When you're sixteen your love interest might very well make you wait years for sex and feel totally justified in not being ready. And maybe never. When you're twenty-six you pretty much assume it could happen that night, or at least in the next few weeks, depending on personality and preference. So all this touchyness is an outlet for people who don't get to have sex. Like, couples I know, who are practically married even, do not act like this, in public at least. In fact, I see this touchyness as the biggest argument against any of them being actively gay, because if they were getting that in the bedroom they wouldn't need to act it out in public. Uh. Sense made? idk.

Seeing as you are both not-Irish and a teacher, what are your thoughts on current levels of bro affection? I've seen quite a few articles to the tune of 'isn't it great that men can be affectionate with each other in public these days!' and wonder if that's in fact true. (I'm also not sure maledom needed this one thing they didn't have while getting all the world's other privileges, but that's a general complaint as opposed to one I want falling upon the heads of individuals like these dudes.)

I totally see the Liam/Louis interaction as Liam being very no-homo uptight at the start and Louis seeing a Louis-sized chink in his armour and just - going for it. Kind of like - I don't see any of them being so much that way with Niall? Because they sense he genuinely wouldn't like it?

Haha, seriously though, if they were dating, they might want to keep it private and that's cool. And if they're not, it comes to the same thing. For me it's the Wizard of Oz paradigm: show me what's behind the curtain and I lose interest.

I'm going to eat a cupcake now and savour those links. I may have THOUGHTS, after. :D

Louis in particular seems to do a lot of punching and tickling and smacking to get attention from everyone else. He's especially bad when he's bored during interviews, sticking his fingers in people's mouths or pinching their nipples. And I think in the last year or so Zayn has picked up the same thing from him; he's gone from fairly laid-back and laughing at everyone to actively jumping on Liam on stage a lot. They have been really delighting in hitting each other in the balls over the last couple of weeks, too, which... is a very particularly boyish way to interact, I think.

I think it's partially sexual frustration (they do allegedly have quite a few girls at hotels here and there -- at least Harry does, but who knows if that's true) and partially... Louis definitely seems to believe he got put through X-Factor for his personality rather than his singing voice. I love him, but I think that's a fair assessment. He is great at interviews and being charming and silly and brings something great to the band, and he does a lot of it very deliberately. But it also seems to be who he really is, just super, super cranked up. And I think he probably got that they could sell themselves with this stuff, and so he tried to encourage it with Harry, who was a super easy sell since he is also a cuddler and a toucher, and with Liam, who took a little longer to get used to the idea of never having any personal space again as long as he lives. There are videos of Liam with friends from home, and they are goofy, but they aren't TOUCHY. Luckily he seems to think everything is basically fine all the time, and if you give him a little room to get used to things he's apparently absolutely okay with being pounced on and smacked by friends.

I really like the fact that these boys are all over each other and it's very normalized in the context of them also being marketed as an entirely harmless, boys-next-door boy band. My girl students see this as affectionate and adorable, which means they are less tolerant of my guy students being all, "Gross, no homo," because "WHY CAN'T YOU BE CUTE LIKE THE ONE DIRECTION BOYS." I have heard girls yell that. I don't know that it's ground breaking, but it's a nice sense of where pop culture is right now. I showed my mom a couple of making-of videos this weekend and she was really taken aback. "Wow, boys in MY generation didn't do that! ...wow." But she also thought it was very cute that these boys apparently just "really like each other."

Niall gets SOME harassment, but nothing like what Louis does to Liam. If anyone in the band is going to get his own seat it's Niall. Although in fairness to Niall, he kissed Liam on the cheek onstage yesterday, so clearly he's part of the games. Liam just seems so okay with being Louis's teddy bear, and I want ALL the fic about how Louis very slowly worked on Liam until Liam got entirely used to constantly being part of this boypile that very clearly confused the hell out of him on X-Factor.

If they are dating and they want to keep it private they are gong about it the entirely wrong way, but whatever. I haven't seen fandom this nuts since the great Lotrips Conspiracy Theories, so I'm happy to stay in my bubble as much as possible.

hahaha I THINK I MIGHT HAVE HAD THOUGHTS BEFORE BUT I HAVE BEEN TOTES CORRUPTED BY THESE HARRY/LOUIS GIFS.

I have to say, given that I think about the power of beauty etc all the time (hence; I am quite bad at MY JOB LOL), I reckon a lot of their ease with all this has to do with a) they are hot dudes and b) the world acknowledges they are hot dudes. Something about how it's easy to let boundaries slide when someone is Officially Attractive because that covers a lot of bases ... as opposed to someone only YOU think is attractive and hence it means a lot more and might be uncomfortable.

aren't they amazing? Louis and Harry have a very special relationship. It's rare for me to be able to enjoy fic because so many otherwise sane adults (people I have known for a long time!) are ABSOLUTELY FUCKING SURE that they are wearing secret colors and giving each other secret messages and being oppressed by management and Louis's girlfriend is paid by management and other totally insane bullshit that has turned me off from most of the fic. And lately interviewers asking "So have you two kissed?" and "Are you hiding your homosexuality" while the boys look HORRIFIED and uncomfortable. (At which point Liam jumps in with really silly jokes and whatnot.) :( But the boys themselves are so fucking adorable. It's not subtle, it's AMAZING. Harry and Louis lived together until last month as well, and they just love each other so much.

Harry in particular, despite having been kind of a weird looking kid, seems 100% certain that he is adorable and the apple of everyone's eye. It makes him confident and cheeky and irresistably adorable. ...that is basically the premise of the fic I'm writing.

I love how Louis dresses. I have spent a good long time on the jcrew website picking out outfits girl!one direction would wear. Louis is so easy.

Louis is clearly trying to play with Liam and get Liam to bro around and play with him in return. (I suspect because Liam is fairly reserved. Louis has said a couple of times that Liam worries too much, and it is VERY teenage boy to try and tease him out of it.) Louis and Harry are clearly super cuddly affectionate people who just love each other and want to touch all the time. Very different vibes. I like the push-pull of Louis and Liam and how they became friends (for fic) better than the instant best friendship, because those are stories I prefer, but god, they're both so cute.

omg have you seen this video?!! I legit LOL'D. Like sniggered to myself at one in the morning. Louis is just the grand master here and the other boys aren't at the point of bopping off each other but you can see the gestation between him and Harry. Also he asked Liam every question first. AGKAJDSHFKAJSHDFKAJH

But - secret colours? That would only make sense if they didn't LIVE TOGETHER AND WERE IN THE SAME BAND. I mean, if they're in a relationship, do they need to tell each other they're in a relationship? Wouldn't they, like, ALREADY KNOW? Also, if it were me, I'd probably be making out. Not picking out matching shirts. Because that's also truly weird regardless of situation.

Yes to Harry! I mean, his hair is insane. He is a mop of hair wearing a person. But he's totally convinced he's amazing and I believe him! I wish I could do it too!

Going back to that video, where Harry keeps pushing Liam's face because he can't see - I can visualise that evolving as they realised what was allowable moreso than it representing true sexual desire type thing. And also denotes a huge level of comfort and trust between them. I'd hate to see that broken because people want to it to be 'real'. It is real! Just not necessarily in the sense they mean.

UGH LOUIS HAS GLASSES LIKE MIKEY WAY. I am starting to have quite a lot of Louis!feelings now...

Heee, I have! I have avoided most of the X-Factor stuff because they just don't sound great yet, but god, those interviews. Louis wants so badly to be a tv presenter, and he's GOOD at it, is the thing, but the boys don't know each other very well. (Their description of how they got to know each other -- "we spent a couple of weeks at harry's stepdad's bungalow and mostly just swam and played football all day" -- is so cute. I want THAT fic. The "How we got Zayn and Liam to stop being shy and play with us" fic.)

Secret colors, secret videos of them kissing, secret every fucking thing. It is genuinely awful. Especially given that they are ostensibly being forced to hide this by Simon Cowell... who loves Adam Lambert. I honestly think if one of them came out Simon would say, "Great, from now on you wear leather pants and boots." The end. (It's very interesting, but also super infuriating, to see that when Louis gives Harry a thumbs up it's their "secret signal" or he's using sign language to call Harry "sweetheart" or whatever, but when Liam or Zayn or Niall does it they're "playing around," because fandom is so desperate to read Louis as gay and closeted, while Niall/Zayn/Liam don't get shoved into that box.)

He is a mop of hair wearing a person.

HEEE. He really is! God he's adorable.

The only conspiracy theory I'm willing to buy is one I made up myself; in the wake of escalating inappropriate interviews lately, and tt on twitter like "Louis shave your beard" and "five raging homosexuals" the other three boys in the band seem to have distinctly stepped up THEIR touchiness. I don't know if it's a solidarity thing that they're doing on purpose or just the five of them pulling together to take some of the pressure off Harry and Louis, but Zayn never used to jump all over people like he does now, and suddenly Niall is kissing cheeks and Liam wore a #NIAM hat on stage the other night, and they're all very, very, very kissy and gropey. I genuinely think they are looking after each other.

Louis is very, very good at comic timing. And he's got a really good handle on that thing of pretending to be ditzy or clueless for the lols. He's a smart cookie. He'd make a great actor, I think. From what I could tell of the little I heard of their actual unvarnished singing (give me slick studio productions any day) Liam is the only one who can actually sing? Er.

Do you think there is a need in fandom to write the big gay love-fest from Simon Cowell's POV? How 1D believe he's all anti-gay! and he sits them down and says, "Louis, man up and propose to Harry. Or Liam. Or Zayn. Or Niall. Or all of them. PS teenage girls are more accepting than you think. I see a marketing opportunity..." etc. And also he makes them wear white t-shirts and fake tan for the lols.

It's funny they've focused on Louis - why not, well, any of them? I went out last night for drinks with my old intern, the one who we nicknamed Zayn 'cause he's half-Indian (and hot). (All my old interns were cute and touchy so we named them after One Direction). Don't ask me how we got to talking about them but he said, "The one I'm named after is totally gay. The rest - nope, it's him." This coming from a very aggressively but cheerfully heterosexual dude his his thirties. And for a given value of anything, another dude might know more about it than slightly delusional teenage girls. Who knows? It's just really mean, and these guys are SO FUCKING NICE to their fans - above and beyond. Like seriously, they should try being fans of John Mayer or something.

I believe Louis actually had a year at an acting school of some sort? I think it shows.

Well, Liam is my darling favorite and his voice is GORGEOUS, but they've all improved a lot since X-Factor. Harry's voice is very rock'n'roll and sometimes sounds weird on pop music, but Zayn is 100% better than he was. (I think it might have been very hard to be Louis on X-Factor, getting constant crap about his voice, while Liam got a lot of praise. Liam seems a liiiiiiittle bit self-righteous.)

YES. THAT FIC WOULD BE GREAT. Simon demands they all come out and get married! FOR THE FANS.

Interesting! tumblr loves photos of limp-wristed and "bitchy" Louis, which it then tags as "you go, girl!" and "look at this hot bitch" and other horrible things. They've just DECIDED it's him, the end. Never mind his girlfriend. (And never mind Harry saying the best thing about being in a boy band is "the girls. I like girls." I was told that he was kidding, obviously, and I went "...........no.") Zayn has a girlfriend now, too, with whom he rides scooters. I don't know. Leave them alone, fandom! They are adorable as they are!